LetLens / Licensing by council / Lewisham
Landlord licensing in Lewisham
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Lewisham let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Lewisham also runs additional HMO licensing and selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing.
The licence you need turns on who lives in the property. Find the line that describes your let.
- Required by national lawThe same in all 296 English councils. Not a Lewisham decision.
Your propertyLet to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet
You needMandatory HMO licence In force England-wide
It costs£2,500 for a 5-bedroom HMO£500/unit
WhereEverywhere in Lewisham, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Lewisham requires on topSchemes this council chose to run, and what differs from the council next door.
Your propertyA smaller shared house the national scheme does not reach, typically 3 or 4 sharers forming 2 or more households
You needAdditional HMO licence In force
It costs£2,000 for a 4-bedroom HMO£500/unit
WhereEverywhere in Lewisham. Scope, fee schedule and source
Your propertyLet privately inside a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO
You needSelective licence In force
It costs£640, the same for a rental of any size
Where16 designated wards, not the whole of Lewisham. Scope, fee schedule and source
- Planning permission, a separate questionNot licensing. Whether you may create an HMO at all, decided by the council’s planning side.
Your planConverting a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4)
You needPlanning permission In force
WhereInside the designated area: a mapped boundary. There is no part of the council outside it. The direction, its dates and its boundary
Each fee is for the example property named on its own line, from the council’s published schedule. Other sizes are priced separately; the full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.
Or open SE4 1JF, a postcode near the centre of Lewisham, to see what a full report looks like.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Lewisham, in the council’s own words, with the designations in force, the whole published fee schedule and the source for every figure. The three regimes can stack: a property can need a licence under one and still be caught by another.
Mandatory HMO licensing In force England-wide
Fee, 5-bed HMO£2,500£500/unit
- Where it applies
- National scheme
- Which properties
- Five or more people in more than one household who share amenities such as bathrooms, toilets and cooking facilities
The published fee schedule
- Base fee, paid in two parts
- £250 on application, then £250 when the licence is granted
- Size charge
- £500 per unit
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2022 (per lettable unit; current live schedule)
Discounts
- Early bird application (20%; only before scheme go-live 5 April 2022 - now expired) - Part 2 reduced to GBP 150 per unit: £100
- Accredited landlord (e.g. NRLA/LLAS recognised training) - Part 2 reduced to GBP 150 per unit: £100
- Transfer from existing additional licence - Part 2 waived (Part 1 GBP 250 per unit only): £250
- Eligible charity - Part 2 waived (Part 1 GBP 250 per unit only): £250
Additional HMO licensing In force
Fee, 4-bed HMO£2,000£500/unit
- Where it applies
- Council-wide
- Which properties
- Smaller HMOs not caught by mandatory licensing: three or four people not of the same household sharing kitchen/toilet/bathroom; purpose-built blocks of flats where 3+ people not of the same household share kitchen and/or bathroom; and lodger arrangements where more than two tenants share with the landlord's household
- Designations in force
- London Borough of Lewisham Designation for Additional Licensing 2022
- Designation period
- 5 April 2022 to 4 April 2027
The published fee schedule, identical to the mandatory scheme’s
- Base fee, paid in two parts
- £250 on application, then £250 when the licence is granted
- Size charge
- £500 per unit
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2022 (per lettable unit; current live schedule)
Discounts
- Early bird application (20%; only before scheme go-live 5 April 2022 - now expired) - Part 2 reduced to GBP 150 per unit: £100
- Accredited landlord (e.g. NRLA/LLAS recognised training) - Part 2 reduced to GBP 150 per unit: £100
- Transfer from existing additional licence - Part 2 waived (Part 1 GBP 250 per unit only): £250
- Eligible charity - Part 2 waived (Part 1 GBP 250 per unit only): £250
Selective licensing In force
Licence fee, any size£640
- Where it applies
- 16 designated wards
- Which properties
- Any house let or occupied under a tenancy or licence in the designated areas, except mandatory HMOs, additional-scheme HMOs, registered-social-landlord lets, houses under management orders, temporarily exempt houses, and other Annex B exemptions. In practice: privately rented homes let to a single household (and two-sharer lets) not otherwise licensable
- Designations in force
- London Borough of Lewisham Designations for Areas for Selective Licensing 2023
- Designation period
- 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2029
London Borough of Lewisham Designations for Areas for Selective Licensing 2023 covers Bellingham, Brockley, Catford South, Crofton Park, Downham, Evelyn, Forest Hill, Grove Park, Ladywell, Lee Green, Lewisham Central, New Cross, Perry Vale, Rushey Green, Sydenham, Whitefoot.
The published fee schedule
- Fee
- £640
- Paid in two parts
- £160 on application, then £480 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2024 (scheme launch; schedule labelled 'Proposed Fee 2023')
Discounts
- Early bird (20% of total; apply 3 months before commencement - now expired) - deducted from Part B (total after discount GBP 512): £128
- Accredited landlord / letting agent (LLAS, NRLA, UKALA, ARLA, RICS, Safeagent) - 20% of total, deducted from Part B (total after discount GBP 512): £128
- Eligible charity - 50% of total (total after discount GBP 320): £320
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Lewisham In force
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Lewisham covering 2 separate areas of the council, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. Every one of Lewisham's 4,992 postcodes is inside a designated area.
HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary
- Area
- a mapped boundary
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 7 March 2020
HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary
- Area
- a mapped boundary
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 19 January 2024
A licence is not planning permission
These are two separate consents from two separate parts of the council, and getting one does not give you the other. A licensing team can grant an HMO licence for a property that needed planning permission and never got it.
Where the permission was needed and is missing, the usual consequence lands on the licence. Councils commonly grant a short licence, often twelve months rather than the full term, to give the owner time to apply. If permission is not applied for, is refused, or an appeal fails, the council will generally refuse to extend and let the licence expire, and will generally refuse a fresh application outright once permission has been finally refused. At that point the property cannot lawfully be let as an HMO at all.
This is council practice rather than a statutory rule, and it varies, so confirm it with Lewisham before you rely on it. Nottingham City Council publishes its version explicitly and is quoted here as a worked example of the approach.
The research note behind this verdict
What happens if you let without a licence
Letting or managing an unlicensed property that needs a licence is a criminal offence, under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004 for an HMO and section 95 for a property caught by selective licensing. A council can prosecute, or impose a civil penalty instead. For conduct on or after 1 May 2026 that penalty can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants and the council can also apply for a rent repayment order, which for conduct from the same date can claw back up to two years of rent, up from one, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
Both of those maxima apply only to conduct on or after 1 May 2026. Earlier conduct is still judged against the old £30,000 and twelve-month limits. Each breach is normally penalised separately, so an unlicensed portfolio in Lewisham multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Lewisham
Licensing is only one side of the sum. These are medians from real listings we have collected, with the number of listings behind each one, because a median over a handful of adverts is a different claim from a median over hundreds.
- Median room rent£862 pcmFrom 435 room listings in Lewisham.
- Median whole-property rent£1,803 pcmFrom 219 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£3,068 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+40%Five rooms let individually against one four-bedroom whole-property let, before the extra cost, licensing and voids that come with an HMO.
- Median sale price£478,750Across 648 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
- Gross yield, whole let4.5%Median whole-property rent for a year against the median sale price. Before voids, management, repairs, licensing and finance, all of which a real return has to carry.
- Gross yield, 5-room HMO10.8%Five rooms at the median room rent against the same median sale price. The higher figure is what pays for the licence, the extra management and the higher voids, rather than being profit on top of them.
- Typical household income£48,968Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure18.3%916 of 4,992 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 3661 (13.2%)The Environment Agency's highest-probability zone. Lenders and insurers ask about this one by name, and it is a subset of the exposure above.
Room rent by outcode
Room rent varies by £167 a month across Lewisham’s outcodes, so the council-wide median above is a starting point rather than the answer for a particular street.
| Outcode | Median room rent | Room listings | Check a postcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE8 | £967 pcm | 22 | Check SE8 |
| SE14 | £900 pcm | 125 | Check SE14 |
| SE6 | £843 pcm | 169 | Check SE6 |
| SE23 | £800 pcm | 86 | Check SE23 |
Postcode districts in Lewisham
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 4,992 Lewisham postcodes. Open one of its postcode districts to see the verdict, the local rent evidence and the investment model.
Common questions
Do I need an HMO licence in Lewisham?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Lewisham let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Lewisham also runs additional HMO licensing and selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Additional HMO licensing applies across the whole council. Selective licensing covers 16 designated wards.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Lewisham?
£2,500 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: £500/unit. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Lewisham?
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Lewisham covering 2 separate areas of the council, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. Every one of Lewisham's 4,992 postcodes is inside a designated area.
Which wards in Lewisham are covered by licensing?
Selective licensing under London Borough of Lewisham Designations for Areas for Selective Licensing 2023 covers Bellingham, Brockley, Catford South, Crofton Park, Downham, Evelyn, Forest Hill, Grove Park, Ladywell, Lee Green, Lewisham Central, New Cross, Perry Vale, Rushey Green, Sydenham, Whitefoot. A designation can cover only part of a named ward, so check the exact address rather than relying on the ward name alone.
What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Lewisham?
Letting or managing a property that needs a licence without one is a criminal offence under the Housing Act 2004. The council can prosecute or impose a civil penalty, which for conduct on or after 1 May 2026 can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants or the council can also seek a rent repayment order covering up to two years of rent for conduct from that date, up from one year, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Each breach is normally penalised separately. Indicative only, not legal advice.
Do I need planning permission for an HMO in Lewisham?
Where an Article 4 direction applies, yes: it removes the permitted-development right to change a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4), so that change needs a planning application. An HMO for seven or more residents needs permission anywhere, Article 4 or not. Planning is separate from licensing, and a licence does not give you permission. Where permission was needed and not obtained, councils commonly grant a licence for about twelve months rather than the full term, and generally refuse to extend it if permission is not then granted, which leaves the property unable to be let as an HMO. Practice varies by council, so confirm it with Lewisham.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Lewisham without planning permission?
Not inside the Article 4 area. The direction removes the permitted-development right, so a change of use from C3 to C4 needs a planning application. The direction covers the whole of Lewisham, so there is no part of the council where the right still applies.
About Lewisham
Lewisham is a local housing authority in London, with a population of about 305,000 and 4,992 live postcodes indexed by LetLens. It is the licensing authority for every private rented property inside its boundary, and the local planning authority that decides whether an Article 4 direction applies.
Nearby councils
Licensing stops at the council boundary, so a street on the other side of it can carry a different scheme and a different fee.
Contact Lewisham
Lewisham licensing team · [email protected] · 020 8314 6420